by Mary Margaret Olohan
More than 225,000 people signed a petition to reinstate Captain Brett Crozier, the fired commander of the aircraft carrier the Theodore Roosevelt.
The Change.org petition to “Reinstate Captain Crozier as Commanding Officer” had gathered 239,003 signatures as of press time Sunday afternoon..
“Captain Crozier was unjustly relieved of duty of the air craft [sic] carrier CVN-71 USS Theodoore [sic] Roosevelt on April 2nd 2020,” the petition stated. “His crime was asking for help regarding the safety of his crew when a covid-19 outbreak. His actions possibly saved many lives. Although he was fired, his plan to safely remove crew members was still implemented. He is a hero who should be rewarded.”
Crozier was relieved of his duties Thursday after writing a letter asking officials to send help to the Theodore Roosevelt, where more than 100 sailors were infected with coronavirus. Crozier’s letter asking for help was obtained exclusively by the San Francisco Chronicle and confirmed by a senior officer on board the aircraft carrier.
“We are not at war,” Crozier wrote in his letter. “Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors.”
The captain noted that the ship’s “inherent limitations of space” prevent the crew of more than 4,000 sailors from being able to practice social distancing.
“The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating,” Crozier wrote.
“Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure,” he continued. “This is a necessary risk. Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care.”
Wrongfully relieved of command but did right by the sailors. #navy @UncleChaps @katebarstool @ZeroBlog30 @CaptainCons pic.twitter.com/M0aZhHNMXT
— Dylan Castillo (@Sotero269) April 3, 2020
Video footage from Thursday night captured Crozier exiting the aircraft carrier amid cheers and applause from the sailors. Crozier stands momentarily to survey the crowd before saluting them and getting into an awaiting car.
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Background Photo “Change Petition” by change.org.
He has the right to do what he had to to protect his men and women.
Come on bone spur, do the right thing for once
The truth in this day and age can’t be hiden- He needs to be reinstated!!!
Looking out for his men
We are talking about Covid-19 he saved lives!!!!!
The Captain was noble & courageous. Should he be removed for that? Looks like his crew was very thankful for saving their lives
not fair
What the hell happened to no man left behind!
He needs to be reinstated!!!
Signed, a proud Navy Mother
💚🇺🇸⚓️💪🏼
Any Captain that has the “safety and well being” of his ships company as his first priority, is a great Captain. Did he follow protocol? We will never hear the complete story because that too is “protocol”! This Officer needs to be reinstated, and if years younger I would gladly call this gentleman my Commanding Officer.
Reinstate this man. He spoke what he felt was the truth. Last time I checked we are in America and freedom of speech is one of our Rights.
not anymore with Trump in power….this isn’t the only person who has lost his position for speaking the truth. He should be reinstated.
Reinstate him! Crozier’s “crime” was putting the safety of his crew first.
PLEASE
All the libtards will come running to his aid because they don’t understand. I hope he recovers quickly but its about choices. He still has a career ahead.
Yes, he is a senior Naval Officer and everyone says he should have first communicated with his chain of command. How do we know that he did not communicate as required? My bet is that he did and was ignored so he did what he had to do to care for his sailors. He knew what he was doing. And furthermore, there should have been a flag officer onboard. Notice that he is being very quiet. Bottom line, there is more to the story.
Agreed
I agree!
293,002 lemmings! The first signature, the person who created the petition, is undoubtedly a leftist who surely will stop short as the others run off the cliff.
Crozier is a senior level officer who’s commanding officer, the carrier group commander, is also on the same ship. They should have talked about it and followed the chain of command, not leak it to the media!
This incident sure sounds a lot like all of the “leaking” that Trump has been dealing with since we elected him in 2016. Drain the Swamp!
And how is this any different than when Obama gutted the Pentagon over his eight years, particularly after the Benghazi debacle?
Kevin, your are absolutely correct. Crozier’s action was absolutely wrongheaded. I sure would not want to serve under his command during a time of military conflict. He might have to send out 50 emails to get permission to shot back at the enemy. He is a disgrace to the US Navy.
Wrongheaded?
You can’t be serious.
He did, you’re misinformed